2026 FORT PECK
Final Update – April 22nd
The weather conditions along Fort Peck Reservoir have been absolutely crazy the last few days! On Wednesday (4/22), daytime temperatures were over 80 degrees with calm winds. In contrast, daytime temperatures dropped into the mid-30’s with gusty winds and wet, slushy snow on Thursday (4/23) as another cold front moved into the area.
Thankfully, we were able to make the most of the favorable weather on Wednesday. Water surface temperatures were averaging close to 55 degrees while checking trap nets. These conditions led to good numbers of walleye with a majority of them being ripe females ready to release their eggs.
The strong numbers of ripe female walleye captured in the trap nets allowed us to hold one last egg-take on Wednesday. This last egg-take provided 7.3 million eggs which brought the total to approximately 51 million eggs for the season.
On behalf of the fisheries and hatchery staff at Fort Peck, I’d like to thank all the volunteers who assisted with this year’s efforts. Be safe on the water and best of luck fishing this season!
Photo: Jeremiah Hopstad with a large female walleye on the last day of the spawn.
Photo: Overlooking the cold and windy conditions from Fort Peck dam.
April 21st
It’s been an interesting past several days at the walleye spawning operation on Fort Peck Reservoir. Windy and cold one day, calm and sunny the next. Thankfully, we’ve been on the warmer side of things recently and walleye are back cruising the shallows as water temperatures increased to 50-52 degrees as of today.
Numbers of walleye captured in trap nets have been gradually increasing since the last update. A large portion of the female walleye have been ripe and ready to release their eggs. Because of this, we’ve managed to hold three more egg-takes since the last update. We managed to collect 4 million eggs on Sunday (4/19), 6.2 million on Monday (4/20), and 9.8 million today (4/21).
These three egg collection efforts pushed the egg total to almost 44 million walleye eggs for the season. It looks like we have one more day of warm and favorable weather before another cold front moves into the area towards the end of the week. Hopefully, we can hold one last egg-take and near our goal of 50 million eggs.
Photo: Don, Bev, and Marvin Johnson doing some walleye wrangling.
Photo: Nick Ross with a big, green female walleye and an amazing day on the water.
April 18th from Heath Headley
The cold front definitely made its presence known in the Big Dry Arm of Fort Peck Reservoir this past week. The gusty winds, nighttime temperatures in the low 20’s, and even a skiff of snow really cooled water temperatures down. Water surface temperatures dropped back down to 41-45 degrees while checking our nets today. But we managed to get our cold hands on a few walleye.
We still captured good numbers of male walleye, along with some green and ripe females. Because of the ripe female walleye captured, we were able to hold a small egg-take today (4/18) and collect 5.3 million eggs. This most recent egg-take brought our total to roughly 23.9 million eggs so far. It looks like we have a warm spell headed our way in a couple days, so hopefully the walleye really get into the spawning mode!
Photo: Joey Renenger with a really nice green female walleye.
Photo: Fish culturist Matt Baxter stripping eggs from a female walleye.
April 12th
The walleye trap netting and egg-taking operation has commenced on Fort Peck Reservoir once again. It’s been an interesting start to the season with the weather – one day it’s unseasonably warm, the next day it’s cold with snow. And of course, wind which has held us back from moving some of our equipment. Compared to last year, lower reservoir elevations have caused us to relocate the operation further down the reservoir between Nelson and McGuire Creek area. The good news is we’ve observed a gradual warming trend in water surface temperatures over the last several days from 43 degrees to around 50 degrees while checking our trap nets today.
These temperatures have signaled a few walleye to start cruising the shorelines. As with the beginning of every walleye spawn, male walleye are typically more abundant. That pattern is holding true with some really good numbers of male walleye being captured. We have captured a few green (not releasing eggs) females and only a few ripe (releasing eggs) females. We have yet to collect any walleye eggs since it’s early, but hopefully we’ll collect a few in the upcoming days as temperatures are forecasted to remain warm.
Photo: Young, but seasoned walleye spawn volunteers Jack Morehouse and Jaxson Kemp with some nice female walleye to start the season.
Photo: An unexpected, but dandy of a smallmouth bass captured in one of the trap nets.
2025 FORT PECK
Final Update – April 20th
Weather conditions have remained favorable for the most part in the Big Dry Arm of Fort Peck Reservoir. Water surface temperatures have ranged from 45 to 51F over the course of the last several days. These water temperatures have allowed us to capture good numbers of ripe female walleye throughout most of our trap netting locations.
Thanks to consistent numbers of ripe female walleye captured in the trap nets, we’ve managed to hold an egg-take each day since the last update (see below). As you can see below, the number of walleye eggs collected from April 19th to April 20th doubled. This was due to an increase in water temperatures – 46 degrees on Saturday warming to 51 degrees on Sunday. It should also be noted that this timeframe is when we typically see the peak of the walleye spawning activity occur in the Big Dry Arm area.
April 17th – 6.1 million
April 18th – 6.7 million
April 19th – 5.9 million
April 20th – 13.1 million
These four egg collection efforts gave us an additional 31.8 million eggs which quickly brought the total to approximately 62 million eggs for the season. This will provide enough eggs at the Fort Peck and Miles City fish hatcheries to meet fry and fingerling stocking requirements for 2025. In addition to the walleye eggs, a total of 1.5 million northern pike eggs were collected to meet stocking requests for several waterbodies here in Montana.
On behalf of the fisheries and hatchery staff at Fort Peck, I’d like to thank all the volunteers who assisted with this year’s efforts. Be safe on the water and best of luck fishing this year!
Photo: Jessi Gudgel, FWP Aquatic Education Coordinator, with a big female walleye on a brisk day.
Photo: Nicole Nelson with big female walleye captured from one of the trap nets.
Photo: Walleye eggs patiently waiting to hatch in incubation jars at the Fort Peck Hatchery.
April 16th
In general, the weather has been pretty cooperative in the Big Dry Arm area of Fort Peck Reservoir. Water surface temperatures have been hovering around 49-51 degrees in some of the shallow areas while checking our trap nets today. Fortunately, the cold front that moved through the area since the last update wasn’t as severe as anticipated.
Numbers of walleye captured per net have remained steady for the most part with the favorable water temperatures. We’re continuing to see good numbers of male walleye but were beginning to capture more ripe (releasing eggs) female walleye in the trap nets. Thanks to the increased numbers of ripe female walleye collected from the trap nets, we’ve been able to hold an egg-take almost every day since the last update.
We were able to collect walleye eggs every day except Sunday when it was extremely WINDY. Each egg-take day averaged 5 million eggs giving us close to 20 million eggs in a relatively short time. These multiple egg collection efforts have quickly brought the total close to 30 million eggs. Based on the numbers of ripe female we’ve been capturing and the consistent egg-takes, there’s a good chance we could be wrapping things up in the near future.
Photo: Kolter and Kasen Berglee doing some heavy lifting on a smallmouth buffalo. Thanks for the great help guys!
Photo: Braxton Mitchell with dandy green female walleye captured in one of the trap nets.
April 11th
The weather has been very cooperative for us in the Big Dry Arm area of Fort Peck Reservoir. Water surface temperatures have been hovering around 49-51 degrees in some of the shallow areas while checking our trap nets today. This has been encouraging for walleye spawning activity.
Numbers of walleye captured per net have increased with the warming water temperatures. We’re continuing to see LOTS of male walleye (and some big ones up to 26 inches) along with some green (not ready to spawn) and ripe (releasing eggs) female walleye. Thanks to the increased numbers of ripe female walleye collected from the trap nets, we’ve been able to hold two, small egg-takes since the last update.
On Wednesday (April 9th) we collected 3 million walleye eggs and today (Friday) we collected 6 million more eggs. These two egg-takes brought our total to approximately 9 million eggs which means we’re on the board for 2025 season. However, it looks like a cold front is headed our way starting Saturday afternoon with winds forecasted to gust up to 40 mph on Sunday.
Photo: Bryker Bates with a green female walleye almost as big as him!
Photo: Stripping eggs from a ripe female walleye.
Photo: Walleye eggs in the process of water hardening in cradles.
April 7th
The walleye trap netting and egg collection is underway on Fort Peck Reservoir. Actually, it’s been more of a trap netting effort than an egg collection so far with the colder water temps early on. Water surface temperatures on Saturday (April 5th), which was our first day checking nets, were 38-40 degrees throughout our trap netting locations. Today (April 7th) water surface temperatures gradually increased to 45-47 degrees and a few more walleye decide to show up in the trap nets.
As with the beginning of every walleye spawn, male walleye are typically more abundant. That pattern is holding true with a majority of the walleye being males, and only a few green females (not releasing eggs) have been captured thus far. We have yet to collect any walleye eggs since it’s early and water temperatures are still relatively cool. It’s possible walleye spawning activity could increase over the next few days as temperatures are forecasted to remain warm.
Photo: Jaxson Kemp and Jack Morehouse with a green female walleye collected from one of the trap nets.
